Many current display devices (such as liquid crystal displays (LCD) or liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOs)) are based on polarization of light. For example, randomly oriented light may be first polarized through a first polarizer. Then, the polarized light may pass through a liquid crystal film (a “pixel array”) having pixels that can individually and selectively rotate the polarization of light passing therethrough depending on a control voltage applied thereto. Then, the selectively polarized light from the pixel array passes through a second polarizer (which is often called an “analyzer,” and may be designated as such herein) such that the ratio of light that is transmitted through the analyzer (for each pixel) depends on the selective polarization rotation imparted by each pixel in the pixel array.
One problem with the current technology is that most or all of the non-transmitted light (due to the first polarizer) does not get re-transmitted through the first polarizer, thus reducing the total efficiency of the system. Another problem with the current technology is that the first polarizer is manufactured in a different process—and often in a different factory across the world—than the light source (such as an incandescent lamp), and the light source must be mated to the other elements of the display in a costly additional step.